4th to 6th Grades
Click on each book to find it in the library catalog. For more reading ideas or to find books to match a particular reading interest, check our list of 100 Books Every Child Should Read or talk to a children’s librarian by calling 217/403-2030 or e-mailing librarian@champaign.org.
Abner and Me
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Gut) by Dan Gutman. When a photograph of Civil War general Abner Doubleday transports Joe and his mother back to the Battle of Gettysburg, they find out about the true origins of baseball, save a soldier‘s life, and try to rescue President Lincoln from his fate.
All Because of a Cup of Coffee
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Sti) by Geronimo Stilton. She‘s mouse-nificent, she‘s a mice-ter-piece! Geronimo Stilton is in love and willing to do anything to win the heart of his darling ratlette until a rousing adventure changes his mind.
The Anybodies
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Bod) by N.E. Bode. Fern grew up having to hide her amazing talents from her parents and always wondered why she really didn‘t quite fit in the Drugers family. One day, her real father came to pick her up and took her on an adventure in search of a mystical book.
Bernie Magruderand the Bats in the Belfry
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Rey) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Will the residents of Middleburg go crazy from the ever-ringing church bells, or will the dangerous Indiana Aztec bats get them first? Bernie Magruder to the rescue!
Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Nim) by Jenny Nimmo. Orphan Billy Raven has finally gotten his fondest wish, he has been adopted. But his new parents are pure evil. Can Charlie Bone and the other endowed children of Bloor‘s school find a way to rescue Billy? This is the fourth adventure of the Children of the Red King.
Chasing Vermeer
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Bal) by Blue Balliett. Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay are drawn together by a strange scrap book of unexplainable occurrences that Petra bought at a used bookstore. When three mysterious letters show up in their neighborhood and seem linked to the theft of a famous Vermeer painting Calder and Petra help solve the crime by using their creativity and problem solving skills. This book is filled with puzzles to solve and a secret message to find.
The Conch Bearer
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Div) by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. In India, a healer invites Anand to join him in a journey to return a magic shell to its rightful owner. Will they overcome the evil and danger along the way?
Coraline
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Gai) by Neil Gaiman. Feeling neglected by her parents, Coraline discovers a strange existence through a special door. Coraline must decide whether to rescue her parents or live in the new dimension.
Christopher Mouse: The Tale of a Small Traveler
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Wis) by William Wise. The adventures a mouse who is separated from his sister, sold to a pet store, and given to a really mean, really rotten, little boy.
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
(Juvenile Nonfiction/J597.3/Cap) by Mike Capuzzo. A shark is caught up in the current going north. Being in unfamiliar territory and unable to find food he ventures close to the shore and begins attacking swimmers.
Disappearing Act
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Fle) by Sid Fleischman. Kevin and his older sister flee when a stalker breaks into their New Mexico home after their mother‘s sudden death. They make a new home on the beach in California, but the stalker finds them. Will they run again?
Donuthead
(Juvenile Ficion/J/Sta) by Sue Stauffacher. Fifth grader Franklin Delano Donuthead thinks he‘s irregular and he worries about that and almost everything else, for instance, the tough, new girl at school.
The Dragons of Spratt, Ohio
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Zin) by Linda Zinnen. John Salt and his family run a wildlife refuge which includes rhinos, giraffes, zebras and… dragons! John must find a way to save the dragons from his crazy aunt who wants to use them for her cosmetics research.
The Dulcimer Boy
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Sei) by Tor Seidler. Two orphan brothers, William and Jules, are left in the care of cruel and selfish relatives. William runs away, but he is haunted by his brother‘s words, ”please don‘t go…
Freedom's Wings: Corey's Diary
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Wye) by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. At a time when it was forbidden, Corey keeps a diary of his family‘s struggle to be free after his father secretly teaches him to read and write.
Ghost Train
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Cap) by Anne Capeci. First there‘s the ghost train, then there‘s the sack with the pistol and the threatening message. Can Billy, Dannie, and Finn figure out what‘s going on before someone destroys the rail line?
Gregor the Overlander
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Col) by Suzanne Collins. Eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister fall through a vent in the laundry room and discover a strange underground world. There they join in a battle foretold by an ancient prophecy involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders.
Harriet Spies Again
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Eri) by Helen Ericson. Harriet has just received the best news of her eleventh year — her beloved nanny, Ole Golly, is coming back! But the circumstances of her return are mysterious and Harriet must spy again.
Here We Go Round
(Juvenile Fiction/J/McG) by Alice McGill. Unsure of the upcoming birth of a sibling, Roberta visits with her grandparents near the end of her mother‘s pregnancy.
Hoot
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Hia) by Carl Hiaasen. The new kid in town, a girl who bites holes in bicycle tires, and a boy who runs without shoes work together to save the spotted owls‘ nesting ground from the construction of Mother Paula‘s Pancake House.
Ida B
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Han) by Katherine Hannigan. Ida B. has the perfect life until her mother becomes ill and she has to return to public school.
Lion Boy
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Cor) by Zizou Corder. Charlie can speak the language of cats and when he befriends the circus lions they help him in the quest to free his kidnapped parents.
Little Darlings
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Lle) by Sam Llewellyn. Daisy, Cassian, and Primrose only pretend to be “little darlings.” These devious and inventive siblings scare away each nanny their wealthy parents hire, but what will they do when they discover that their next nanny is a burglar in disguise?
Makeovers by Marcia
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Mil) by Claudia Mills. Marcia‘s world revolves around losing weight, trying on the latest makeup, demanding teachers, and wondering if Alex will ask her to the school dance. Her world changes when a community service project shows her that real beauty comes from what you are and not in how you look.
Mystery of the Dark Tower
(Juvenile Mysteries/J/Ame) by Evelyn Coleman. After moving to her aunts ‘ place in Harlem from North Carolina, Bessie must now find out why her father disappeared.
Not Just a Witch
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Ibb) by Eva Ibbotson. Determined to be more than just an ordinary witch, Heckie, whose speciality is changing people into animals, settles in a small town determined to use her powers for good purposes.
Otto and the Flying Twins
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Hap) by Charlotte Haptie. Otto‘s family has always be reassuringly normal. That is, of course, until the day Otto‘s twin baby sisters begin to fly.
Patriots in Petticoats: Heroines of the American Revolution
(Juvenile nonfiction/J973.3082/Red) by Shirley Raye Redmond. You‘ve heard of George Washington and Paul Revere but… have you heard the stories of these 24 brave women who fought for our country‘s freedom?
Peter and the Starcatchers
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Bar) by Dave Barry. Have you ever wondered how Peter Pan got to Neverland or what Captain Hook‘s name was before he met up with a hungry crocodile?
Pick of the Litter
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Wal) by Bill Wallace. Is Tom brave? He doesn‘t think so. But maybe sometimes courage is just doing the right thing — even if it means losing the world‘s best puppy.
Pictures of Hollis Wood
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Gif) by Patricia Reilly Giff. Hollis has been in foster care all of her life and she longs for a family. She‘d like to stay with Josie, an elderly artist, but can she keep the social worker from discovering that her caregiver is becoming more and more forgetful every day?
Polo's Mother
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Nay) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Polo, a mystery solving cat and his newspaper reading brother, Marco, embark on dangerous adventures in such places as sewers and church steeples with their mother Geraldine in this fourth book in the Cat Pack series.
Project Mulberry
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Par) by Linda Sue Park. Julia, a Korean-American girl who wants to fit in after moving to a new town, agrees with her friend to raise silk worms for the state fair. While concerned the project may not be American enough; she tries to understand her own mother‘s prejudices.
The Ranger's Apprentice Book 1: The Ruins of Gorlan
(Juvenile Science Fiction/Fantasy/J/Fla) by John Flanagan. Although orphan Will longs to become a knight, he is apprenticed to a mysterious Ranger instead.
The Ravenmaster's Secret
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Woo) by Elvira Woodruff. Maddy has been taken prisoner and she‘s scheduled for execution. Will Forrest Harper risk everything to save the life of his friend?
The Report Card
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Cle) by Andrew Clements. Fifth grader Nora Riley is a genius, but hides it from everyone so she can be a normal kid. But when she comes up with a plan to prove that grades are not important, things get out of control.
Runt
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Bau) by Marion Dane Bauer. In the north woods of Minnesota, a wolf pup named Runt learns the way of the pack and earns his father‘s respect after venturing into the forbidden land of the humans.
Seadogs: An Epic Ocean Operetta
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Whe) by Lisa Wheeler. A young pup visits the theater to see the story of dog sailors sailing the seas.
Secrets of Grimwood
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Laf) by R.L. LaFevers. The second book in a series, young Kenric must find a way to bring together the races of Men, Elves and Goblins to forge a magical sword and finally defeat their enemy, Lord Mordig. If you like the Lord of the Rings, you will like this series.
The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Bir) by Betty G. Birney. Set in the rural 1930s, this story revolves around young Eben McCallister‘s quest to find seven wonders in Sassafras Springs equal to the seven wonders of the ancient world; thus winning a trip to Colorado from his father. Will Eben ever get out of Sassafras Springs? And just what kind of Wonders does a place like Sassafras Springs have?
Shadows of Ghadames, The
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Sto) by Joelle Stolz. While Malika‘s father is on a caravan to distant places, an injured stranger is brought into her home, bringing new ideas to ponder.
Silk Umbrellas
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Mar) by Carolyn Marsden. Noi worries that she will have to stop painting the silk umbrellas her family sells at the market and instead work at the factory in her Thai village.
Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life:The Riot Brothers Tell All
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Ama) by Mary Amato. Meet Orville and Wilber, the Riot Brothers, game inventors extraordinaire. If you are a Captain Underpants fan, you will enjoy this book!
The SOS File
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Bya) by Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers. The students in Mr. Magro‘s class write about real emergencies in their lives: diving with sharks, meeting a bear on a hike, getting caught in the girls bathroom at camp, and facing Mrs. Meany.
The Steps
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Coh) by Rachel Cohn. Annabel visits her dad in Australia where he surprises her with a new step family she knew nothing about!
The Tale of Despereaux
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Dic) by Kate DiCamillo. This heartwarming story tells the tale of a small mouse with big ears who saves the Princess Pea from the evil castle rats.
Thor's Wedding Day
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Cov) by Bruce Coville. The Norse God of Thunder, Thor, has had his legendary hammer stolen by an ugly giant. In a hilarious scheme involving Thor dressed (try to imagine cramming Thor into a corset) as a blushing bride and Thialfi, Thor‘s goat-boy, as his maid, Thor tries to steal back his hammer.
The Time Hackers
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Pau) by Gary Paulsen. After suffering the brunt of some time travel practical jokes, Dorso Clayman and his friend Frank, jump back into history to stop two gamers from dangerously changing the past.
A Week in the Woods
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Cle)by Andrew Clements. Mark‘s newly-acquired survival skills prepare him for the annual 5th grade campout, but when his teacher accuses him of breaking the rules Mark runs away and is really put to the test.
Whales on Stilts!
(Juvenile Fiction/J/And) by M.T. Anderson. Lily‘s life is ordinary and boring until she discovers that her father works for a mad scientist plotting to take over the world using an army of whales.
Wild Robert
(Juvenile Fiction/J/Jon) by Diana Wynne Jones. Heather accidentally summons a mischievous 350-year-old youth with magical powers and nothing in the stately mansion where she lives is ever the same again.
Wishes, Kisses and Pigs
(Juvenile Fiction / J/Hea) by Betsy Hearne. While Louise is wishing on the first star of the night, her brother makes her mad and gets turned into a pig!
101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher
(Juvenile Fiction/J/War) by Lee Wardlaw. Steve “Sneeze” Wyatt invents interesting contraptions, but writes funny lists on the side to fund his planned trip to an Inventor‘s convention. Now his parents want him to skip a grade and start high school early. Is he mature enough to make that leap?
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